Who Is The Wise One? He Who Recognizes That He Was Stupid Parshas Toldos contains the story of Eisav selling the birthright to Yaakov. After the transaction, the Torah uses...
“Va’yetar Yitzchok l’HaShem, l’nochach ishtoh ki akoroh hee – Yitzchok entreated HaShem opposite his wife, because she was barren.” (Bereishis 25:21) Rashi comments that Yitzchok stood in one corner, and Rivkah in...
The Torah tells us that a kosher animal is one which has split hooves and chews its cud; pigs have split hooves, but because they do not chew their cud, are not kosher. The Rabbis of the Medrash tell a parable of...
WHY WERE THE FOUNDING FATHERS OF JUDAISM ENTHRALLED BY WELLS? FREE PLOWING Back in the ‘40s, a Jewish guy was arrested for smuggling guns into Israel, then known as Palestine. He was...
Perfect Order The Chofetz Chaim gave the following mashal: There was a man visiting a distant city. Shabbos morning, he went to the community’s beis kneses and watched the gabai give...
M a n y have the custom to bentch their children on Friday night. Where does this custom come from? Should the blessings be given before or after coming home from shul? Should one use one hand or two hands? How does a...
Several years ago, our community was privileged to host Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, zt”l. Before he addressed the over 1,000 people in attendance at BRS, I spontaneously asked him if...
The events surrounding the name Yaakov are very puzzling. The Torah explains that he was given the name because upon birth, “V’yodo ochezes ba’akeiv Esav -- And his hand grasped...
Even those with only a passing knowledge of the Five Books of Moses recognize the death penalty applied to various sins. The Oral Torah, committed to writing centuries later, explains...
“The Impossible Pork, we didn’t give an ‘OU’ to it, not because it wasn’t kosher per se,” said Rabbi Menachem Genack, the CEO of the Orthodox Union’s kosher division. “It...